We sat facing each other with a one-meter safety distance between us. Arms folded, we kept our eyes locked.
I had more than a few things I wanted to grill that bastard about, but the memory of him shedding those hen-dropping tears last night kept flickering up.
Well, what can I do. The adult has to give way.
“Ha... you want to ask me a lot of things, don’t you?”
“Yes. Tell me why you lied to me, and what it is you want from me.”
I felt wretched. I wanted nothing more than to flop onto my back and spin in circles insisting I wasn’t the one who did those things.
But I’d realized something last night. I might not know what kind of bastard Ceryl Aylos used to be, but among the things he left behind there are things that help me, and things that saved my life.
If I’m going to live as Ceryl and use those advantages, then I have to shoulder the opposite side as well.
“Killing monsters and ordering you to eat their corpses.”
“......”
“Yes. All of that was done by Ceryl Aylos. Not a misunderstanding. No room for excuses.”
At my plain confession, Varen’s face turned pale. I thought he would explode with thunderous fury, but instead his blue eyes filled with water.
Ah. So this is why drama leading men always carry handkerchiefs.
“Stop crying. When you cry, I get soft.”
Varen’s big eyes widened. He didn’t let the tears fall, but he glared at me with them trembling on the brink.
“It’s true that all of it was done by Ceryl Aylos. But none of it was done by me.”
“...What does that mean.”
I steadied myself. Thank god I’d prepared an excuse in advance for the day this would come.
“A few months ago, I had a big accident. I lost my memory then.”
“......”
“So everything Ceryl Aylos did before he lost his memory—I don’t remember any of it. To be honest, I didn’t know at all.”
It was a mixture of vague truth and lies. As expected, Varen snorted and turned his head.
I kept going, building a more concrete alibi.
“It’s true. You said you lost your memories from magical aftereffects. I’m similar.”
“......”
“On the way from my hometown to the Facility, the story goes I was ambushed by bandits. Barely survived, but—”
“Ceryl. Stop.”
Right as I was getting into the scenario, Varen cut me off.
His winter-cold eyes fixed on me, freezing me in place, then he sighed as if suffocating.
“Why do you keep lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“When humans lie, they instinctively tense up. They release a distinctive body scent.”
The hell is he talking about. A scent when lying? Even if that were true, not even a dog could smell that.
“You lied to me from the beginning.”
Varen lifted his head again and met my eyes. Something in his gaze looked sad, and it froze my three-inch tongue solid.
“Ceryl Aylos. That’s not your name.”
That brought back our first meeting. When I introduced myself, Varen immediately sensed it was a false name.
It would be better if he just cornered me and asked why I’d deceived him. Instead, he fell into hellish silence after saying that.
I opened my mouth and closed it again several times. The little gears in my mind spun frantically, then jammed and gave up.
“Ha... so you already knew everything.”
My mouth tasted bitter.
Ceryl Aylos being a false name, the things the previous one did—none of it was my choice. And yet Varen’s trust in me had crumbled because of them. It crushed my chest.
And at the same time, something in Varen’s behavior began to make no sense to me.
“If you knew Ceryl Aylos wasn’t my real name, why did you call me Ceryl?”
“Because you wanted to be called that.”
Varen answered without a shred of hesitation.
“...You knew from the start I’d lied. Why did you trust me?”
“Because aside from that, everything else was sincere.”
His voice came again without delay, settling coldly.
But—sorry, and ridiculously enough—my mouth corners kept climbing anyway, completely ignoring the mood.
“Why are you smiling?”
“...Because I’m grateful.”
“For what.”
“For trusting me.”
Varen immediately bared his teeth, frowning. Dragons’ growling habits didn’t go away even in human form.
Even with the irritation pouring off him, I couldn’t stop the stray laughter.
Not that lying works anyway, but honestly, I can’t lie to him.
“Fine. I’ll be honest. The thing about ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) having an accident a few months ago—that was a lie.”
“I figured.”
“But it’s true that I don’t have memories of the past. The Ceryl who slaughtered monsters and the me sitting here now are different people.”
Varen’s eyes narrowed. Probably focusing to detect any hint of falsehood.
But this time, there wasn’t even a sliver to catch. I squared my shoulders and met him head-on.
“Why did you lose your memory?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“So since lying doesn’t work, you won’t say anything at all.”
“Yes. Which is why I told you not to ask.”
Varen blinked slowly, thinking.
“It must be the same reason you knew my name.”
“You’re smart.”
I couldn’t tell him I was a transmigrator or that this was a novel world.
Even if he could believe it, I couldn’t say: Actually, you’re a side character—an antagonist at that. You slaughtered countless monsters.
Varen, apparently confused, said nothing. Watching him, I gave a small shrug.
“It may be hard to believe, but I truly want to help you now, and I want to save the monsters.”
“......”
“Just trust me one more time.”
We quietly held each other’s gaze. There was no more wariness or anger in Varen’s eyes.
Only countless waves of hesitation and confusion. A pure being showed its emotions without filter.
After a long stretch of thought, Varen let out a short sigh.
“I’m trusting you because I have no one else to trust.”
“So you mean if someone more trustworthy shows up, you’ll throw me away?”
“...That’s not it.”
His face was still sulky as he said it. I laughed aloud and held out my right pinky.
“I won’t lie to you ever again.”
Varen stared at the tip of my offered finger. After hesitating, he slowly reached out and wrapped his finger around mine.
I was the one who insisted we keep a safety distance, yet that disarming gesture made me get up and sit closer.
“This is how you do it. Hook your pinkies, then stamp with your thumbs.”
“Is it magic.”
“You call everything magic. No, it’s not.”
We tightened our hooked fingers and pressed thumbs together firmly.
“Something stronger than magic.”
“What is it. A contract?”
“No. Something even stronger. If you break it, the other person gets hurt.”
A flicker of fear passed through Varen’s eyes. I only smiled.
“A promise.”
“...A promise?”
“Yeah. I promise I won’t deceive you again.”
His bewildered eyes bounced between my face and our joined hands. I tapped his cheek lightly with my free hand and stood.
With our hands separated, Varen opened and closed his fingers, looking up at me.
“Let’s go. Because of the ruckus you caused yesterday—oh, right! Hey! Damn it, I have a lot of things to grill you about too!”
I thought we’d cleared everything up, but that was only half of it.
I had a whole bucket’s worth of questions myself.
“You said you could fly—why did you lie about that? And you could humanize the whole time!”
“......”
“And how did you know my situation? Did you overhear what Jed and I were talking about?”
Varen glanced aside, clearly hit in the mark.
I’d put on a circus under the moonlight just to keep the Dragon Hunters away from him. Suddenly, the back of my neck throbbed.
“Ha... what were you doing just listening to that. If dangerous humans got that close, you should’ve considered running.”
“No need to run.”
“It wasn’t just one or two. There were more than twenty—how did you even—”
“......”
“Look me in the eyes. You can use all your magic, can’t you?”
I grabbed his chin and turned his face back to me. His face turned, but his blue eyes slid away again.
“You think you’re the only one who notices lies? I’m not falling for yours anymore.”
“...You did.”
“You little—!”
I wanted to smack him, but the one whose hand would shatter was mine, so I held back and pounded my own chest instead.
“You—you liked being in dragon form better.”
“Why.”
Why do you think. Because when you say the same things in dragon form, I don’t get pissed off.
Varen, who’d been looking up at me with that insolent slant, suddenly shot to his feet. The sudden rise in height and the pressure of his build made me step back automatically.
I didn’t want to look intimidated, so I raised my voice louder to hide it.
“And how could you just breathe fire like that. You nearly killed all the Facility monsters.”
“They didn’t die. I only set fire to the buildings where humans were.”
“Idiot. The whole place is wood; it would’ve spread immediately.”
“...I didn’t think of that.”
He might know how to use fire, but he’s got a long way to go before he can handle it properly.
The original Varen and the Varen in front of me were different people, but the things he’d done in the novel still lingered in me like trauma.
So the simple fact that he hadn’t intended to kill the monsters put me at ease. That didn’t mean I was unaffected, though.
“You tried to kill me too, didn’t you?”
“That’s not it. I already knew you were running away.”
Varen answered in a rush, stepping directly in front of me.
It was a relief if he’d had no intention of killing me, but that didn’t align with the frenzied roar of my name I’d heard then.
“I thought if I waited, you’d come back and make excuses. But then you suddenly ran, and I got so angry that—”
“Then you should’ve gotten angry at me. Why did you set fires?”
“You said it yourself. If I ran, the Facility humans would chase after me.”
“Thorough of you. So you killed them? To keep them from chasing?”
“No.”
Varen straightened his chest as if expecting praise, looking down at me.
“I killed them all because you were worried.”
